Phonograph-brake.



A. A. J. M. NIELSEN, PHONOGRAPH BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYIS, I915.

Patented Aug. 7, 1917.

' 3 woewtoi i flya J/KMW a 01mm, (9W 2 am UNITED STATES. PATENT orrron.

AAGE A. J. M. NIELSEN, on NEW YORK, 1v. SQ, AssieNoR. To] WILLIAM A. ooivnoli O s MMrr, NEW. JERSEY.

rHonosRArH-Bn-AKE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AAGE A. J. M. NmLsEN, acitizen of the Danish Monarchy, and a resident of New York city, in the county of Bronx. and State of vented certain new and useful Improvements in Phonograph-Brakes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to phonograph brakes and the object of the invention is to provide a mechanically operated brake mechanism for the record turntable or like element of a talking machine so arranged and designed that'it will automatically brake the turntable when the record has been played irrespective of the length of the record and without requiring any other attention from the operator than the releasing of the brake when a new record is to be played. That is this invention has for its main object to provide a brake'mechanism which requires no setting or measuring or adjusting for each record. Other objects-of the invention are to provide a phonograph brake of simple design, adapted to be manufactured and sold at a low price and one which may be readily attached to different makes of talking machines.

With the above and other objects in view the invention is embodied in a phonograp brake mechanism as hereinafter described and as illustrated in its preferred form in theaccomp anying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a phonograph equipped with a brake mechanism embodying the invention. 1

Fig. 2 is an elevation anism, partly in section.

Fig. 3. shows a modification.

The phonograph elements are illustrated to such an extent only as is necessary for the understanding of the invention and are represented by the turntable 1 operated in the usual manner on the turntable" shaft 2. 3 is the tone arm provided with a depending in 1 such as isfound on most new machines for the purpose, generally of operating other types of turntable brakes.

The brake mechanism according to this invention is supported on a plate 5 which may be 'securedto the cover. of the phonograph by screws 6 as shown and a casing or cover 7 may be used to cover the mechanism .and which may be secured to a lug on the base by a screw .8. On a fixed pivot 9 there f the brake mech Specification of LettersPatent.

New 'York, have in- Pa n d Ana. '7

rotatablymounted a cam 10 which by means i i of connectingsleeve 11, rotates with a pulley driven from a smaller pulley-13, which is slipped over the turntable shaft 2-under the turntable 1. A coiled spring lt may be used; to transmit the power from i to thepulley 12'and acts like a belt.

The cam 10 carries abrake setting or operating lever 15 mounted to turn onv a pivot 16 and-thelever 15 is further provided with an upwardly projecting lug 17 18'is a brake arm pivoted on a. fixed-stud. 19.v 2Ois the. brake secured to the hub 21.0f thebrake arm, which is provided with. a'depending lug 22. It will be clear therefore that when the lug the pulley 13 17 of the brake operating lever hits the lug 22 of the brake arm, as-saidv leveris rotated with the cam 10,.thebrake arm will be turned on its pivot 19 and the brake applied to the turntable 1. This, however, is only .to occur whenthe record 2 1. hasfinished playing and h p a fixed sleeve 28 in the base 5. The member 26 is a. friction driving element and may be a stiff wire having arubber sleeve'o'r roughenedsurface. Or the member 26 may have teeth engaging a gear instead of the friction. pulley. Or again, as shown in Fig. 3, a drum 30 may be pulley. and operate a cord 31 by a spring 32, the cord 31-being secured ,to the pin 1, so that asthe tone arm is moved inwardly over the record 24 the spring winds up the cord and turns the drum direction, andlwhen the tone arm moves outwardly the spring is unwound.

The friction pulley 27. carries a pin v34: which plays in a slot 35 in the stud collar 36 substituted for the 30 in an anti-clockwise on the stud 37 which turns loosely 1n the said sleeve28. As the friction pulley 1s ro-v tated by the friction member 2 6, the. stud 37 is rotated by the pin 34 and in turn moves the. oscillating lever 38 to the leftin Fig. 1, said lever resting on The movements of the lever 38 are regulated by thefixed pin 39 and slot 10 in said lever. It will therefore be seen that themember 26, as it is moved to the left by the tone arm the said collar 36.

3, constantly rotates the friction pulley in an anti-clockwise direction. And that the stud collar 36 is also rotated in the same direction because the pin 34 on the pulley eX- tends into the slot 35 in the collar. Again, the lever 36 which merely rests upon the collar is by friction therewith constantly urged or moved toward the cam 10 and into the path of the brake operating lever 15 as shown in Fig. 1.

l/Vhen the high part of the cam 10 touches the lever 38 the latter is moved back or to the right on the friction collar 36 though the latter is constantly rotated from right to left. It will therefore be seen that I have provided a very sensitive yet very practical and efiicient friction drive for the lever 38, inthat, the outward movement of the latter in no wise affects the constant inward movement of the tone arm, and that the latter is called upon to do no heavy work such as might influence the movements on the record disadvantageously.

a The operation is as follows. When it is desired to play a record the brake is released by taking hold of a handle 41 on the arm 18 to move the brake 20 away from the turntable which thereupon commences to rotate with the record and of course the cam 10 commences to rotate by the means described above. A slot 42in the cover 7 limits the releasing movement of the arm 18, the said handle 40 projecting through said slot.

During the inward movement of the tone arm the arm 38 is constantly being moved inward or held against the cam 10 by the frictional drive elements 26, 27, and 34 and when the lever 15 reaches the arm 38, the latter forms an obstruction which turns the lever on its pivot 16 as shown dotted, so that lug 17 will pass by lug 22 and the brake will not operate. Immediately thereafter the arm 38 is moved outwardly by the high part of the cam 10, but as soon as the high part has passed the point 45 of the arm the latter is again moved into the path of the lever 15.

After the lever 15 has been turned to pass by lug 22 it must be turned back so as to be able to hit lug 22 when the record has finished playing. To this end there is secured to the stud 9 a cam 47 which turns the lever 15 back into its original position as shown in dotted lines.

In other words, during the playing of the record, the arm 38 is oscillated to the left by the friction drive elements so as to turn brake lever 15. And the arm 38 is moved to the right by the cam lO against the friction of the friction drive elements.

When however, the record is played and the tone arm remains practically stationary, the arm 38 remains in its outward position caused by the cam 10 and consequently the lever 15 is not turned by the said arm. Therefore. the lug 17 will hit the lug 22, the

brake will be operated and the turntable will cease rotating.

To insure that the brake will operate at the proper time the following features of the invention should be noted.

The movement of the tone arm 3 on a phonograph is hardly ever a steady even motion toward the center of the record. This is because the records are not mathematically exact in that it hardly ever happens that the record center is concentric with the center of the turntable shaft. So that even when the tone arm is moved toward the cen ter the width of a record groove for each revolution it swings back and forth during its movement over the record. I have observed that a tone arm may swing or oscil late as much as three thirty-seconds of an inch during one revolution of the turntable.

The outward movement of the tone arm causes a similar movement of the friction member 26 which tends to rotate the fric tion pulley 27 backward. The slot 35 in the stud collar 36 must therefore be so wide as to permit this backward movement of the friction pulley 27 and its pin 34 which plays in said slot and whereby it is certain that the collar 36 will be driven in one direction only so as to urge the lever 38 inward immediately after the cam 10 has passed said lever and whereby the inward movement of said lever 38 is assured so as to come into the path of lever 15.

If this werenot so, the lever 38 might be inits outward position at the very moment it is relied upon to turn lever 15.

Inasmuch as it is impossible to know the exact moment during a revolution of the record when the tone arm will be in its position nearest the record center (though we do know that it must happen once during the revolution) it is necessary that the cam 10 be long enough to keep the lever 38 in its outward position for at least an entire revolution of the record to be sure that the stud collar 36 is moved inwardly during last revolution prior to the braking without also moving the lever 38 inwardly into the path of the lever 15. On the other hand, the low portion of the cam 10 should be long enough to permit the lever 38 to be moved into the path of the lever 15 once during each revolution.

It-will therefore be clear that the construction illustrated and described insures suflicient elasticity and freedom of movement of the various parts to correspond with the practical operations of a phonograph and at the same time insure proper applica tion of the brake when the record'is finished.

It might also happen that at the very beginning the brake would be operated because the lever 38 was moved outward by the friction drive member 26 when the latter with the tone arm is moved outward into starting position. This difficulty is overcome by providing a spring 50 on the member 26 which presses the lever 38 inward during the first part of the playing of the record.

To sum up, 15 is a constantly rotating brake lever which is rendered inactive by the lever 38 while the record is playing and the lever 38 is moved into operative position by the movement of the tone arm. But when the record is finished the lever 88 is no longer moved into the path of the brake lever and the latter operates the brake.

I have constructed and successfully operated a brake according to this invention. The mechanism responds promptly to the action of the phonograph and brakes the turntable within about two or atthe most three revolutions after the end of the record groove has been reached.

The mechanism is inexpensive and is easily attached to the phonograph. Details in the construction may be varied to suit diiferent makes and dimensions of phonographs, but I claim all such changes as come within the principle of the invention as de fined by the appended claims.

I claim 1. The combination with a swinging member and a rotating member, a brake for the latter, an arm on said brake for moving the same into and out of braking position, a lever, means for operating said lever into the path of the said arm to operate the brake when said swinging member ceases to move and mechanism for moving said lever out of the path of said brake arm to prevent operation of the brake while said swinging member moves.

2. The combination with a swinging member and a rotating member, a brake for the latter, a lever for actuating the brake, means for rendering said lever inactive while the said swinging member moves, mechanism for operating the said means from the said swinging member and means operated by said rotating member for moving said lever into position to actuate the brake when the said swinging member ceases to move.

3. The combination with a swinging member and a rotating member, a brake for the latter, a member for moving the brake into and out of braking position, an element,

adapted to be moved into contact with the said brake member to apply the brake, means for rendering said element inactive before it contacts with said brake member to prevent operation of the brake while said swinging member moves and means for operating said element into active position to contact with said brake member when said swinging member ceases to move.

4. The combination with a swinging member and a rotating member, a brake for the latter, a brake arm on said brake, a member it to operate the brake and means for movmg said brake operating means 1nto and out of operative position with respect to the brake during the rotation of said brake operating means.

6. The combination with a swinging member and a rotating member, a brake for the latter, a brake lever, means for rotating the latter continuously to cause it to operate the brake, movable means for rendering said lever inactive while the swinging member moves and means for moving said lever back into active position. v

7. The combination with a swinging member and a rotating member, a brake for the latter, a brake lever, means for rotating the latter continuously to cause it to operate the brake, mechanism for rendering said lever inactive while the swinging member moves and means for operating said mechanism from the said swinging member.

8. The combination with a swinging member and a rotating member, a brake for the latter, a brake lever, means for rotating the latter, a brake arm on said brake projecting into the path of said brake lever, means for rendering the latter inactive with respect to the said brake arm while the said lever moves past the brake and fixed means for moving the said lever back into active position after it has moved past said brake arm;

9. The combination with a swinging member and a rotating member, a brake for the latter, a brake lever for operating the brake,

means for turning said brake lever into in- AAGE. A. J. M. NIELSEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner .of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

